Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of the packaging of products, and has as its object, on the one hand, a cutout transfer device, and, on the other hand, a method using this device.
Description of the Related Art
In this field, machines are used that create cardboard containers by folding flat cardboard sheets, in a step commonly called “box forming.” The machine can comprise peripheral steps of this box forming: grouping of the products to be deposited there, orientation, placement, box closing, etc.
This type of machine generally has a storage area in which the cardboard sheets are received against one another, often oriented approximately vertically. They are then used one after the other to form, in each cycle, a cardboard box.
A machine with box forming thus has a storage area from which the cutouts are pulled one after the other. This storage area ensures the autonomy of the machine and can contain a large number of cutouts.
It is advantageous to supply this storage area with cutouts automatically. Thus, robotic solutions exist, which cyclically grasp several cardboard cutouts simultaneously and place them in the storage area. Initially, the cutouts are found on a pallet, superposed on each other in stacks beside one another on said pallet.
EP2899149, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,551,053, 6,332,750, or even US2002154986 propose, for example, equipment that grasps a batch of cutouts so as to bring them into the storage area of a machine.
A problem can occur when the cutouts are initially not interconnected. They are then able to be moved parallel to their plane, until eventually disturbing an adjacent stack, by being inserted there, for example. The cardboard cutouts are thus interspersed possibly into an adjacent column. Further, it is understood that the cutouts from one stack can touch those of another stack and destabilize the latter when they are picked up, i.e., pull the other stack when they are moved. Generally, the insertion, even very slight, of one cutout between two cutouts of another stack can bring about a disturbance of a stack during the movement of cutouts from another stack. In addition, the traditional tools for grasping a batch of loose cutouts generally are based on a gripper that touches the stack of cutouts, indeed is inserted between two successive cutouts. This insertion can cause the cutouts to overlap as described above.